162 



CASSELL'S POPrLAH GAEDEXIXG. 



stems, having compressed leaves, clothed with a 

 hoary tomentum. The tiowers are produced singly, 

 and are terminal. The peculiar dry and chaffy 

 chai-acter of the petals renders them very persistent, 

 and they are popularly known as everlasting flowers. 

 All the kinds bloom during spring and early summer, 

 and are very effective ornaments to the plant-house. 



The soil best adapted for Aphelexis is good fibrous 

 peat and sharp sand ; a few pieces of charcoal mixed 

 with the soil, serve to keep it open, and are very bene- 



at all seasons, but are especially valuable during the 

 dull winter months, when flowers are comparatively 

 scarce. Ai-aHas, and many other flne-foliaged plants, 

 are also of the greatest service for the decoration cf 

 halls, conidors, and such places; the smaller-growing 

 kinds for decorating the dinner-table, and also for 

 using in the flower garden in the open air, giving a 

 rich and varied tropical effect, which is strikingly 

 different from the foliage of our native trees, and 

 that of the majority of the flowering shrubs usually 



Aralia Sieboldii. 



ficial to them. There are not many kinds ; the best 

 are here enumerated. 



A. Barnesii. — Elowers large, rosy-pink. 



A. macrantha rosea. — This is a more compact 

 grower than some of the kinds, and is extremely 

 handsome ; flowers soft rose. 



A. macrantha purpurea. — The finest variety in 

 cultivation ; leaves bright green ; flowers large, dark 

 purple. 



Aralia. — A family of plants which give the name 

 to the order, Aralia^ece, or Ivyworts, to which they be- 

 long. They consist of shrubs and trees possessing 

 very ornamental characters in their leaves ; but their 

 flowers are inconspicuous ; hence such plants liave 

 become popularly known as fine-foliaged, or orna- 

 mental-leaved plants, and commend themselves to 

 the gardener and amateur, inasmuch as they pro- 

 duce gi-and and striking effects in the plant-houses 



planted in the borders. From their use in this 

 manner, these plants are usually denominated sub- 

 tropical plants. The use of this class of plants 

 generally in the open air is described elsewhere, 

 under the head of Sub-tropical Gardening. Besides 

 the strictly green-house or sub-tropical division, 

 there are several species of Aralia which are per- 

 fectly hardy, bearing strikingly beautiful leaves ; 

 but we refer in this place to those more especially 

 which deserve a place in the green-house or con- 

 servatory. 



The soil for Aralias should consist of two parts 

 rich loam, and one part peat and leaf -mould togethcx. 

 They enjoy a liberal supply of water. "With these 

 essentials there is no difficulty in their management. 

 The following will be a good selection : — 

 A. crassifolia, an erect handsome plant, attaining 

 a height of between twenty and thirty feet, witn 

 alternate linear-oblong leaves, which are thick and 



